Hawick 23 Gala 14

Action from the match

Alexander McLeman

Published:13:23Monday 16 November 2015

Gala’s downward spiral continued on Saturday against an inspired Hawick side who demonstrated exactly why they are widely considered a play-off contender in 2015 with a 23-14 win at Mansfield Park on Saturday.

How bad it gets for Gala is anyone’s guess. Whether head coach George Graham will be afforded the time to actually turn things around is another question few can confidently answer but Saturday was yet another dismal display from the former title contenders.

For No. 4 Hawick, their rival’s spectacular downfall doesn’t bother them, the Netherdale side are just another notch on their 2015’s win column.

Saturday started as well as it ended for the Robbie Dyes. Ali Weir paced Hawick’s offence with a pair of early penalties, before Stuart Graham dotted down for the game’s opening touchdown, which Weir converted, to help Hawick take a commanding 13-0 first-quarter lead.

Gala hit back through centre Alan Emond, Ruairi Howarth converting, but the Maroons were always playing catch-up in a game that was billed as a must win for last season’s play-off contenders.

Weir added his third penalty to round-out the first half scores with Hawick 16-7 up.

Gala came out swinging in the second half, their offense looking slightly less disjointed but uncharacteristic errors yielded yet more points. Talented youngest Kirk Ford, who has helped lead Hawick YM to an undefeated season this year, touched down for his first BT Premiership try, Weir converting, which seemed to put the game beyond the Netherdale squad.

Down by 16, Gala eventually got themselves off the mark in the second 40 with a converted touchdown but that was as good as it got for the visitors who have now not tasted victory in their last nine Premiership contests.